Google marked the 103rd birth anniversary of Hindustani classical music singer Begum Akhtar with a doodle on Saturday. Begum Akhtar, born Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, was a well-known singer of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri genres of Hindustani classical music. The doodle depicts Akhtar with a sitar inside the letter O, candles placed around it and audiences watching the singer’s performance.

Akhtar, who was born in 1914 in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad, began training under sarangi exponent Ustad Imdad Khan when she was a child. She first performed publicly at the age of 15. Akhtar was one of the first female singers to give public concerts, ANI reported.

She was also referred to as Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazal). She fell ill during her last concert, which was held in Ahmedabad, and died on October 30, 1974.

Akhtar was awarded the Padmi Shri in 1968, the Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1972 and the Padma Bhushan, posthumously in 1975.